Netflix is famous for flooding its subscribers with content, but not all of it is actually worth your time. You know that intuitively, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to pick through the various shows on the streaming service and decide which ones to watch.
We’ve done that part for you by pulling out a few shows that live somewhere between great and bad. These underrated shows might have slipped through the cracks upon release, but here’s why you should check each of them out.
We also have guides to the best new shows to stream, the best shows on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, and the best movies on Amazon Prime Video.
Love Life (2020-2021)
Although it lasted just two seasons, Love Life was the kind of complex romantic comedy that we rarely get in either TV or film. The series follows a different person’s love life in each of its two seasons and is also a textured look at life in New York trying to find a partner.
Anna Kendrick is remarkably funny and dynamic in the first season, and William Jackson Harper is even better in the second. In both cases, though, Love Life creates a world that feels more textured and grounded than most shows about love, and that makes the emotional journeys of its two central characters all the more believable.
You can watch Love Life on Netflix.
The Sinner (2017-2021)
A remarkable miniseries that didn’t get the attention when it first premiered, The Sinner follows a central detective who investigates a series of chilling homicides over the course of four seasons. Although Bill Pullman’s central character remains the same, the cast around him changes from season to season.
As a result, we get showcase performances from actresses like Jessica Biel and Carrie Coon. Although the quality of the mystery varies from season to season, The Sinner is always compelling, in part because it’s on the darker end of detective shows of its kind.
You can watch The Sinner on Netflix.
Hollywood (2020)
Although it lasted just a single season, Ryan Murphy’s Hollywood was one of the mega-showrunner’s more interesting experiments for Netflix. The series followed actors and other show-business professionals as they attempt to find careers in the years following World War II.
It’s probably an unrealistic depiction of life in Hollywood. However, the show is a reminder of how much control studios used to have over their stars and their public image. Also, Hollywood featured David Corenswet, who is now America’s new Superman.
You can watch Hollywood on Netflix.
